Shalati

On February 8th we flew from Cape Town to Skukuza. Skukuza Airport is situated in Kruger National Park, so we had a very short transfer to Kruger Shalati the Train on the Bridge (less than a 10 minute drive from the airport). Our safari guide Mishack met us at the airport which was a nice start to our time here.

Kruger Shalati (Shalati) is permanently stationed on the Selati Bridge which is suspended 15m above the Sabie River in Kruger National Park. Shalati has 24 Train Carriage Suites and 7 Bridge/Garden Suites. Mid-train is a bar, small swimming pool and patio area with a view of the Sabie River – a spot to watch the hippos. The main restaurant is in the garden area; it has a large outdoor dining area where we ate all of our meals. The meals were very good as were the wines and drinks. Shalati was recommended by friends (thank you Wendy and Gord) – we enjoyed our 2 nights (4 safari drives) at Shalati.

Game drives were done in Kruger National Park. The park is an area of 7,523 square miles (19,485 square km) and is about 200 miles (320 km) long and 25 to 50 miles (40 to 80 km) wide. With such a large, lush area and given that the guides cannot ‘off road” to view an animal, it really is “being at the right place at the right time”. If the animal is on the road, or close to it, then the viewing is great. If the animal is in the bush or far off, it is challenging to spot it.

Wake up call was at 4:30 a.m. and the drive started at 5:00 a.m. (very early). We were back to Shalati for breakfast by 8:00 a.m. We headed off for our evening drive at 4:30 p.m. and we were back by 8:00 p.m. in time for dinner. After dinner we were definitely ready for bed.

We were very fortunate to have only one other couple in our safari vehicle so lots of room; plus Naomi and Fabian (our safari mates) were great to be with. Fabian was excellent at spotting animals (even after he pointed the animal out we had trouble seeing it) and Naomi’s spotting on our last drive was very impressive. Our guide, Mishack, provided answers to our many questions and tried so hard to find the illusive leopard (we just got a glimpse) and the rhino but to no avail.

And now for the many safari pictures – and this is just a sampling of the ones we took. Elephants were plentiful, as were monkeys, hippos, hyenas, and of course impala.

And now for the elephants – Theresa and Karen, our elephant lovers, there were so many elephants, and at times they were so close. We saw a mother elephant upset and running into the water and up the bank with a young one following – the young one “screaming” and the mother trumpeting. They headed our way, but it was the rest of the herd that they were interested in. So many elephant pictures…here are a few.

And the final animal for this post, the lion.

Our two nights (4 game drives) went by quickly. On Feb. 10th we headed to Inyati Game Reserve (just over an hour drive from Shalati).